2000 Ford Windstar Reviews - Page 9 of 17

2000 Ford Windstar SEL from North America

Summary:

Transmission and service nightmare

Faults:

Drove out of the dealership and onto the Thruway when the vehicle transmission (and entire van) shuttered every 3-4 miles for the next 2 hours. It felt (feels) like we were going over a lot of bumps in the road, but there are none. We have owned this vehicle for 2 weeks and it has been back to the dealership 4 times now and they still have not fixed the problem. They refuse to admit that it is the transmission. We know from research and other mechanics that it is the transmission. They have had the car more than we have!

Auto sliding doors sometimes do not close all the way.

Car alarm likes to go off for no reason.

Vehicle rides extremely rough on all road services--you can feel every grove and crack in the asphalt.

General Comments:

The Windstar looks beautiful and has very comfortable seats.

It also has all the right extras for a vacationing family.

At first, I thought we had a slight problem with a nice car. But now after educating myself more on the Windstar, we are going to take this Lemon with it's Ford transmission back to the dealer for the last time tomorrow and file suit if we have to for our $15,000 back. The sad part is we traded in our Dodge with 130,000 miles on it that never gave us a lick of trouble... we were looking for safety. A bumm tranny is not safe!!

If you aren't driving the vehicle, a five star crash rating is not worth anything!

11th Nov 2004, 20:50

If you look at all of the North American minivans, GM Ford and Chrysler. they all need a few things. Yes bad transmissions are a fault, but all 3 have them. GM has problems in Power steering systems, power doors and intake manifold leaks. Chrysler is famous for transmission blow ups! The general design in Chrysler is good, but no real quality to speak of. For in my opinion is the lesser of the three evils. Great comfort, not bad mileage, lost of power, great looks and ride.

Overall for the $ the Windstar is be best. Honda or Toyota, have similar problems, but for way more $$$$$$

2000 Ford Windstar LX 3.8L from North America

Summary:

Faults:

Complete electrical shut down while driving 65 mph on the expressway (at less than 3,000 miles). Towed to dealer, which replaced diagnostic connector.

Again under 3,000, complete electrical shut down while driving 25 mph. Towed to dealer, which replaced connector in steering column.

Chimes once within first 100 feet on 25% of start-ups.

At 40,000 miles, power door locks on front two doors would work intermittently. Still a problem.

At 53,000 miles, brake lights wouldn't work, headlights came on and stayed on, radio and wipers worked with the van off and key out of the ignition. Sometimes horn would sound and gages sweep back and forth with the van off and key out of the ignition. Intermittent problem the dealer has yet to fix these electrical gremlins on the third visit.

General Comments:

I thought this vehicle would be the best value, since it had a larger engine and more cabin space for the money compared to other manufacturers' minivans. However, my wife is now afraid to drive it anywhere, I've lost time at work, and it keeps costing me for diagnostics. The quantity of used Windstars on the market makes trade-in bleak. In hindsight it was a poor choice, which my wife reminds me every day she doesn't have a vehicle.